02 AUGUST 2015

Spadafora Wins Unanimous Decision

By Derek Gionta, ringside: "The Pittsburgh Kid" Paul Spadafora, 47-0-1 (19), won a ten round unanimous decision over a game Solomon "Mr. Jones" Egberime, 22-4-1 (11), of Australia at the Mountaineer Racetrack and Casino’s boxing venue, The Harv, on Saturday night (12/1) in Chester, West Virginia.

It was the second fight since August in Spadafora’s comeback, which also took place at the same venue where Spadafora won the IBF lightweight title against Israel Cardona back in August of 1999. Now at junior welterweight, Spadafora looks to seek out new challenges.

The opening round was quiet as both fighters felt one another out. Spadafora landed a straight left hand to Egberime’s body which looked to be his best shot of the round. The slick southpaw was barely hit during the round.

The pace picked up in round two as Spadafora let his hands go a little more, while Egberime landed a few grazing lead right hands to Spaddy’s face.

Egberime had his best round so far in the third as he landed an overhand right to Spadafora’s head. Spadafora threw single jabs with little follow-up.

Egberime assumed the role of pressure fighter, while Spadafora fought in close range, with his back on the ropes at times. Egberime used his head and some slightly dirty tactics but it did seem to be effective enough to make the fight dull and uneventful.

The next two rounds Spadafora found more of an offensive groove. His body work increased in the fourth round while Egberime landed a right hand to Spadafora’s head that the former champ quickly countered with a body shot before the two tied up.

The sixth round was a good, competitive round, with Spadafora continuing to use his jab. Egberime landed a few solid shots to quiet down the local crowd.

Spadafora landed a left hook to Egberime’s head in the seventh, while chants of Spaddy! began to flow throughout The Harv. Egberime came right back with a right hand of his own shortly after, but seemingly lost the round.

Round eight was much of the same as The Pittsburgh Kid threw sharp combinations in a competitive round.

Egberime finished strong in the last two rounds, as he countered Spadafora’s offensive work with some hard shots of his own. A cut over the right eye of Spadafora appeared after an exchange, which was believed to be from an accidental head butt. Egberime quickly went after the cut with a right hand-left hook combination to Spadafora’s head, which barely grazed the cut.

A tough final round for both ended with continuous trading on the inside.

The final verdict from the West Virginia judges were as follows: 98-91, 97-94, and 100-90 all for Spadafora, now ranked 11th in the WBA.

Secondsout scored the fight 97-93 for Spadafora.

""He was a tough guy. Crafty, dirty, used his head. I adjusted, won the fight," said Spadafora after the fight.

The Pittsburgh Kid continued: "It was a real test. I would like to fight any top guys, Malignaggi, Garcia (Danny)."

Spadafora’s trainer Tommy Yankello said after the fight, "I gave him a B+. He could’ve fought on the inside more. He gave him a little too much respect. I give credit to Solomon. He’s tough to fight."

The Spadafora comeback continues....

In a rematch of their July bout at Pittsburgh’s Rivers Casino’s outdoor venue, Monty Meza-Clay, 34-3 (21), of Pittsburgh scored a unanimous decision victory over Mexico City’s Emmanuel "The Butcher" Lucero, 26-13-1 (14), in an eight rounder.

The two junior lightweights fought to an eight round majority decision this past July, which was also won by Meza-Clay.

Lucero began the fight with a bang, and that bang was a left hook to the body of Meza-Clay, which seemingly hurt him for a few moments. Meza-Clay recovered but looked to have lost the round.

The two traded punches in close range over the next two rounds. Meza-Clay was busier in the second, while Lucero landed the bigger blows in the third.

Meza-Clay wobbled Lucero slightly in the fourth with a 1-2 to the face, and was the more active fighter. Needless to say, Lucero continued to pressure Meza-Clay and backed him into the ropes late in the round.

Meza-Clay boxed more over the next two rounds, jabbing and circling his opponent before firing off short two and three piece combinations. Late in the seventh, Meza-Clay landed clean uppercuts, with his back was against the ropes near Lucero’s corner.

Lucero pressured Meza-Clay in the final round while throwing wild punches that found the mark a few times, but not enough to hurt his shorter opponent and take him out of his rhythm.

The judges scored the fight 77-75 x 2 and an inexplicable 80-72 for the winner Meza-Clay.

Secondsout scored the fight 77-75 for Meza-Clay.

In an eight round junior welterweight bout, "Mr." Peter Oluoch, 12-6-2 (6), of Kenya, scored a minor upset over Youngstown, Ohio’s Jake "The Bull" Giuriceo, 16-2-1 (3), by a five round technical split decision. Giuriceo was cut on the right side of his head near the hairline at the closing seconds of the fifth round. He immediately put his glove to his head and appeared to be in great pain after the clash of heads.

"That was the worst cut I’ve ever had," said Giuriceo after the fight.

Leading up to the conclusion of the fight, Giuriceo and Oluoch went back and forth in a battle of contrasting styles.

Giuriceo pressured Oluoch in the opening round, while the out-of-towner jabbed but did little off of his longer left to capitalize.

Oluoch picked up the pace in the second round as he threw a few nice left hooks with bad intentions in the opening moments of the round. He continued to box from the outside, timing Giuriceo’s punches and landing clean with some consistency.

The third round was similar as both combatants continued fighting at a busier pace as time passed. Giruiceo landed a crisp right hand to the head of Oluoch with nearly one minute left in the round before Olouch landed a clean right hand of his own.

Giuriceo had some success smothering his taller orthodox opponent in the fourth.

By this point the fight seemed to be even on the scorecards.

Oluoch controlled the fifth round with his jab as he continued to circle in both directions. He put a nice display of combinations together behind his jab more so than the earlier rounds while the pace and style of the fight was now in his favor. At the closing seconds of the fifth round, Giuriceo landed a nice flurry on Oluoch but their heads clashed, causing the cut to Giuriceo’s head.

The fight was stopped before the sixth round started and it went to the scorecards.

Super Middleweight "Big Chief" Morgan Fitch, 8-0 (4), of Pittsburgh by way of New Orleans, scored a first round KO over Cameron Allen, 4-12 (2), of Battle Creek, Michigan with a crushing left hook to the body that left Allen on the canvas for the 10 count. Fitch came out doubling his jab, while Allen looked to keep the fight at close range and smother his opponent. Allen looked game in some of the early exchanges, finding his target a few times. Fitch suddenly landed a left hook to the body that Allen could not recover from as referee Tim Wheeler counted him out at 2:26 of the round. The fight was scheduled for six rounds.

Pittsburgh junior welterweight Billy "Hutch" Hutchinson, 5-1-2 (3), won a second round TKO over Jose "The Puerto Rican Prince" Caraballo, 5-5 (1), of Pittsburgh at the 39 second mark of the round. Caraballo barely made it out of the first round as Hutchinson scored two knockdowns, the latter of the two coming as the bell sounded. As the two went back to their corner, it was evident the fight wouldn’t last much longer. Hutchinson again pressed Caraballo as the round started, with the third knockdown finishing off the Puerto Rican Prince for good.

Junior Middleweight Joey "The Hitman" Holt, 1-0 (1), of East Liverpool, OH won his professional debut by a dominant first round TKO over Alan Moore, 3-18 (2), of Indianapolis, IN.

The opening bout of the night was an open level amateur contest between Angelo Magnone of Steubenville, Ohio and Mike Shook of Pittsburgh, PA. Magnone won by decision over the 6’7" Pittsburgh fighter and former Western Pennsylvania Golden Glove finalist.